After decades of researching women and gender issues in Japan, retired American professor Joyce Gelb was not shocked by the male Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly members who harassed one of their female colleagues in June, but she hopes the incident will spark much-needed change. “It ...

Citizens alarmed by the recent sexist jeers against a female member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly organized a gathering Monday evening to try to keep the legislative body from “drawing the curtain” on the matter. The gathering in Shibuya Ward was organized by some ...

Forty-three members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly support their colleague Ayaka Shiomura’s call for those who heckled her during a recent session to come forward. A survey released Wednesday received responses from 44 of the assembly’s 127 members. All 58 members from the Liberal ...

It’s assumed that the heckling of Tokyo assembly member Ayaka Shiomura by some of her male colleagues on June 18 became a major news story in Japan only after the foreign press picked it up as an example of intractable Japanese sexism. The situation ...

While the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party hope the furor over misogynist comments will swiftly blow over, others are continuing to press for a crackdown on discriminatory behavior in politics. On Thursday in Tokyo around 100 people participated in a ...

A Tokyo assemblywoman subjected to sexist taunts by male colleagues last week said Tuesday the capital’s legislative body needs to be reformed so that the voices of women can be heard. “A local-level assembly like the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly is not a friendly place ...

A Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker apologized on Monday for shouting a sexist remark last week at a female colleague from Your Party during a plenary session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. Akihiro Suzuki, 51, apologized at a news conference at City Hall five days ...